The List: 20 Jun 2002 (Issue 443)

Pretty lightweight stuff. althOugh worth watching it only for the sight of Hurley's cerebral posturing being indecorously punctured by a call of nature. (Metrodome VHS, DVD rental retail) (Anna Phillips)

ART HOUSE VA SAVOIR (PG) 148min ooooo

n v. cm Ii New». (ti .«J. M

are a

Jacques RIVBIIGS brilliant take on a series of half- committed relationships leading to crystallised thoughts and feelings may initially seem iightweight.

Rivette looks at the lives of acting catiple Camille and Ugo (Jeanne Balibar and Sergio CastellittOi. philosoohy lecturer Pierre (Jacques Bonnaffei. his ballet teacher partner Sonia. art student Dominioue and DOmIDIQUBS dodgy half- brother Arthur as their lives interconnect. Yes. there's Rivette‘s usual interest in theatre as Camille and Ugo appear in Pirandello's As You Desire Me. but the most important )uxtaposmon lies in the characters' own lives as they search out complex en‘otions in a magical Paris without necessarily admitting to sexual liaisons. \i’vloitrlerftil stuff. iArtifiCial Eye VHS DVD rental retail) (Tony McKib'oin)

BLACK comeov STORY‘I'ELLING (18) 83min .0.

Hum llll DIRIf m :il 3%."?in ‘1 MY gargantuan"

Todd Solondz offers two stories for the price of one. Is that because he doesn't have stony

enough for one film alone. or is it because he's trying to do SOmething thematically fancy. tying together two strands?

In the first section. ‘fiction‘ — a bolshy black creative writing teacher shags his students: in the latter. called ‘non-fiction'. a lost-cause documentary filmmaker determines to follow the life of a suburban neurotic teen. Occasionally directOr Todd Solond/ proves he can offer rare pathos within facetiousness (the paedophile dad in Happinessi. but here the flat. one-dimensional world remains untouched by human warmth. and the two stories seen: too in(:identally )Oined. (Entertainment DVD VHS rentali iTony McKibbinl

MUSIC

MUSE: HULLABALOO (no cert) 130 mins 0...

MUS

H iiahaioo

"unit.

Muse may well be one of the greatest British rock bands of the ii‘oment. live they are immense — frontman Matt Bellamy hot-.vling like a banshee while striking appropriate rock poses — there is no air of pretension. Just the full blown ma)esty of rock. Recorded at Le Zenith iParisi. this double DVD is a lovely package: the mtlSiC is seamless. the performances exhilarating. there are llitCFZtCtI‘.’{} camera angles and extra docuinentany footage. But even watching a great gig from the comfort of yOur sofa can never capture those unguantifiable elements 'the smell of sweat. the ;ostling in the mosh pit) that make a live performance truly unforgettable. (Taste Media DVD retail)

(Henry Northiiiore)

ALSO RELEASED

The Long Good Friday Brilliant British gangster memo from 1981. Bob Hoskins greatest Cinematic moment.

(Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD rental/retail)

One and A Two Superb Taiwanese version of ShOrt Cuts from gifted Jazz obsessive Edward Yang. l/CA VHS/DVD retail)

The Day I Became A Woman Highly rated Iranian film from 2000. A triptych of stories examining the DOSition of women in eastern Islamic state run SOCieties.

Bandits

Released: 20 May 2002

(Art/ﬂoral Eye VHS/ D VD

rental/retail)

Rollerball: Special Edition The original is always best. DVD repackaging of 1975 James Caan classic. (MGM Home Entertainment DVD retail) Four Rooms Appalling vanity project by Tarantino and his mates. Four stories. one hotel, four different directors. (Touchstone Home Video DVD retail)

Two-disc set released to coincide with 10th anniversary of the original release that catapulted Sharon Stone into the limelight with ‘that' scene. Extras include two audio commentaries. trailers

and screen tests.

Great Escape - Special World Cup Edition

Released: 20 May 2002

This classic film re-released as a special edition with and in-pack competition to win tickets to the World Cup Final. DVD extras include 50 min Steve McQueen documentary, 60 min True Story and 60 min History Vs Hollywood documentary.

World Cup Final 1966

Released: 20 May 2002

Released amid current World Cup fever. this is the first time the great final of ‘66 has been avail- able on DVD. Also includes specially filmed inter-

view with 6 of the team.

Auf Wiedersehen Pet - Complete Series One

Released: 27 May 2002

As we are all getting back into the current lives of this group of lads you are given the opportunity to go back to the beginning of the story of this

likely bunch.

Flix Mix - Ultimate Fights Released: 27 May 2002

The first in a series of very interactive DVD's from UMG that have been getting great reviews. Featuring action from 16 films including. Crouching Tiger. Gladiator. Scarface and Blade with audio commentary, profiles of fighters and

statistics for each fight.

Hardware Wars

Released: 27 May 2002

Following the release of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones here is the opportunity to watch George Lucas’s favourite spoof of the original film. First time release on DVD. extras include Director's commentary. interviews. lost scenes and out

takes. Lagaan

Released: 27 May 2002

One of the biggest Bollywood films ever and highly praised with Oscar Nominations to its credit. This 2-disc set includes 15 minutes of

deleted scenes.

tv@list.co.uk

DOCUMENTARY MINI- SERIES

CONRAN: THE MAN BEHIND THE BRAND Channel 5, Fri 21 & 28 Jun, 7pm 0

Excuse me but since when has Channel 5 been Sir Terence Conran's rolling publicity machine? This incredibly dull documentary allows the sprightly cigar chomping 70-year-old to tell us about the birth of Habitat and how he gave the UK taste in the 60s This cheap hagiography is more interesting for what it leaves out of this portrait. We are talking about a man who wouldn‘t even turn up to his youngest child‘s drug possession coun hearing because he didn't want to be associated with failure.

A man whose communal restaurants in which one is served dreary nouveau anglaise procured from seasonal ingredients comes not from a love of prog- ression but of a boarding school fetish. A man who has been dismissed by more than one ex- wife as a screaming egotist. But here he is. tottering around acting all benign and modest with those jolly nice lackeys at the factOry. Get a grip Channel 5. (Paul Dale)

Merseybeat is The Bill-lite

DRAMA SERIES MERSEYBEAT BBC1, Mon 24 Jun, 8.30pm 00

Apparently. this is the second series of the police station drama though. for all the impact it made first time round. Merseybeat might as well be fresh from the incubator.

Despite its pretensions of being serious drama. this has very little to distinguish it from police soap opera The Bi//. Sorry. apan from pace and action. of which Merseybeat has little.

The officers of Newton Park are the usual motley bunch. There's the plodding inspector. who does everything by the book (‘Can't stop. Criminals to catch!‘ he actually quips at one point). and a tough-but- vulnerable superintendent. torn (yawn) between career and family commitments.

Merseybeat is a perfectly adequate diversion for anyone with a low attention span. who doesn't object to the BBC merely going through the motions of drama production and churning out drama-by- numbers. complete with formula characters and cliche-ridden scripts. But shouldn't we demand a little more? (Allan Radcliffe)